Industrial control systems have enabled modern factories to become partially or completely automated in many circumstances. These systems generally include a plurality of Input and Output (I/O) modules that interface at a device level to switches, contactors, relays and solenoids along with analog control to provide more complex functions such as Proportional, Integral and Derivative (PID) control. Communications have also been integrated within the systems, whereby many industrial controllers can communicate via network technologies such as Ethernet, Control Net, Device Net or other network protocols and also communicate to higher level computing systems. Generally, industrial controllers utilize the aforementioned technologies along with other technology to control, cooperate and communicate across multiple and diverse applications.
At the core of the industrial control system is a logic processor such as a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). PLCs are programmed by systems designers to operate manufacturing processes via user-designed logic programs or user programs. User programs are stored in memory and generally executed by a PLC in a sequential manner, although instruction jumping, looping, and interrupt routines, for example, are also common. Associated with user programs are a plurality of memory elements or variables that provide dynamics to PLC operations and programs. Such variables can be user-defined and can be defined as bits, bytes, words, integers, floating point numbers, timers, counters and/or other data types to name but a few examples.
Industrial controllers and associated control systems have increasingly become more sophisticated and complicated as control applications have been distributed across the plant floor and, in many cases, across geographical or physical boundaries. As an example, multiple controllers and/or other devices can communicate and cooperate to control one or more aspects of an overall manufacturing process via a network, whereas other devices can be remotely located yet still contribute to the same process. In other words, control applications have become less centrally located on a singular control system having associated responsibilities for an entire operation. Thus, distribution of an overall control function and/or process frequently occurs across many control components, systems or devices.
Human governance of control processes and/or functions is often difficult to orchestrate. In order for systems to be accurately monitored, system interfaces can be created and maintained. Hardware interfaces are merely linkages consisting of wires, plugs, sockets, etc. Through these interfaces, hardware devices communicate with one another. Software interfaces are composed of languages and/or codes used by systems for application-to-application communication and for communication between an application and a given hardware device. All such interfaces permit real-time communication between respective participants without any appreciable latent period. However, user interfaces, which permit communication between a user and an operating system, are often inefficient due to processing required to permit human interpretation and response. A user interface can be, for example, a mouse, a keyboard, a stylus, a monitor, a screen menu, an audio signal, or any other suitable input or output device.
One such user interface is a Human Machine Interface (HMI). Current HMIs are typically limited in resolution capabilities when compared to the relatively high resolution of data made available to a HMI via, for example, a PLC. For instance, a PLC scans incoming data, outputs information associated with such data at high resolution, and pushes it to a HMI, such as a graphical display. The HMI thereafter attempts to display the high-resolution data. While data is processed, a latent period occurs, during which further information sent by a PLC to a HMI might be ignored. Until and unless HMI data capture rates begin to approach those of the PLC, there is an unmet need in the art for systems and methods that mitigate the wide discrepancy there between.